I think the difference here is that Faf seemed to have acted alone and on the spot. Whereas here is was a premeditated plan by the captai, coach (he must have known, the video of him talking to Handscombe to get a message out kinda implicates that) and senior players during a break. And then to rope in a player whose spot on the team was under pressure was the icing on the cake.

It’s tough analyzing performances of athletes after an Olympics. Especially when armchair critics and the public couldn’t even do what they do at our best. Because on one hand, in an idealised world sport is about giving it a go, win or lose doesn’t matter just do yourself proud. But on the other hand, in reality professional sport is exactly the opposite and it is a business that promotes alot of other avenues of business.

Ownership has to be taken and results have to be expected. The model I can bet Australia will be looking at is Great Britain. Up until Beijing, they were taking home on average a tally of medals in the high thirties. But they weren’t happy with that and turned it into a high performance business which has seen its’ medal tally now consistently double those returns into the high sixties. Australia has gone backwards in success.

We can still be proud of our athletes. The track and field guys did us proud and show huge potential. But, AIS and all the funding agencies, coaching staff, support staff and administrators cannot be happy with a negative gearing medal haul. Having athletes publicly state that it wasn’t even a priority is a bad sign and in poor taste when so many people are putting so much time, energy and money into giving them the opportunity.

That would have been pretty cool to “bump” into a multiple TdF winner at the lights for a quick chat haha. The beauty of cycling hey?

Personally, I have no issues with Froome, but he is pigeonholed by many of the public because of their perception of Sky in my belief. If you have seen the boorish comments on both cycling news and velonews facebook pages once someone mentions Sky you might know what I am trying to say haha

Agree 100% 7.4 million is a scratch on the surface of GB funding. They also work incredibly close with their road teams. Alot of their success has been built over time and they paid bigger money for our best Aussie admin and coaches than us Aussies did lol. They also train in a velodrome worth almost 10 million pounds, which was joint funded by 4 government departments.

Leading up to last year, sponsors Sky was also throwing in 10 million pounds over 4 years.

Success needs talent definitely and a lot of dedication, but it is often refined and improved by a heck of a lot of cash.

Unless you are a Colombian fan haha :p

Froome has two personalities in my opinion, he has more of a social media presence and he does post some funny stuff. But he also has the robotic Sky personality at times which I can understand due to focus, but I think alot of people are a little put off by it. Could also be because alot of people are put off by Sky’s domination as well.

I see Wiggins as the anti Sagan. And I think some people like to see a bit of mongrel, drive and ego haha. Very few people would disagree Merckx was dissimilar. I don’t take much account of commentators disliking him for being stand of and dour, it is their job to get the interviews that athletes sometimes don’t want to do. Remember Evans constantly battling with the media haha? I think he even threatened to hit one!

The thing I admire about Wiggins is his personality. He always said what was on his mind and it never felt scripted. It is because of this, I think the GB public really idolised him in a way no other British rider has. Most cycling fans could see themselves having a beer with him. He also pushed barriers, not many, if any, of the current GC contenders would contemplate a serious charge at a classics win, let alone being considered a genuine contender like he was in 2015.

He will definitely go down as one of the greats and deservedly so. Anyone with such a large and varied palmares such as his should be considered one.

Quintana still has plenty of time, every time I see him I need to remind myself he is only mid-20’s despite looking like he is 38 years old haha. But his biggest problem is he rides to conservatively.

Pantano I haven’t seen much of him before, but you’re right seems promising, and it looks matter of time before one of them takes it… course depending. Need some serious altitude climbs.

With Richie being the sole leader, that all depends on his form I suppose. TVG was consistently a good rider, 2 top 5 tdf finishes, almost beating Froome in the Dauphine, and good enough to displace Cadel from being the protected rider. In the space of 2 years he is now being written of. So I suppose a lot can happen in a short time. Porte has gone from being an exceptional TT rider, to being a good TT rider.

BMC made potentially the mistake of having two leaders. When Porte had that puncture Van Garderan was also in a good position, I think they got confused whether to help Porte back or keep supporting Tejay maintain his position. Pretty risky going in with two leaders and an average support cast. As it turned out, Porte suffered from bad luck but clearly was one of the best in the final week and Tejay suffered by not being good enough…again. Top 5 finishes seem a long way away and I believe he should target classics and 1 week events.

Sky was dominant this year in my opinion because other strong teams got sucked into the hype that Sky was unbeatable once Froome wore yellow. Movistar were the team that could have taken it to Sky, but even though they managed to put riders in many breaks, Quintana for some reason chose to wheel suck Froome and wax lyrical about “more days to come”. The days didn’t come and neither did Nairo.

An eight person team wont do anything other than possibly reduce crashes.

A salary cap is interesting, but other teams are generally crying out for money. Hence the creation of Velon. Another way of making some coin other than sponsors. This is a whole different argument worthy of an article in its’ own right, but Sky benefit hugely on their close ties with British Cycling and national identity. No other team has their kind of relationship or benefits. The brits take a national interest in Sky and their successes. One of the only things I agree with Oleg Tinkoff about is the need for cycling to change its draconian economic structure. It is just not sustainable in its current form.

Point system just wont work. The Tour is a big event and the centrepiece of the calendar. But it is not the only race. A points system which excludes riders/teams will only lead to more teams folding. Due to its global exposure, if sponsors don’t get the riders they want, or their teams into the race, they will pull out and stop funding teams. No other sponsor would want to risk millions on a team if the team had issues entering the race. It would be a grave mistake for cycling to give the French this kind of power.

History has told me not to take for granted that a team or athlete is clean. I would never have thought Sharapova would have been pinged for taking a banned substance, yet she was. It wasn’t an “Armstrong doped to the gills” moment, but none the less she was taking a banned substance, along with what seems half the Russian federation.

This time it was heart medication or a mixture of micro doses disguised with alcohol. And micro dosing I believe CIRC found was discussed by a few cyclists.

I have no doubt though that teams, sky included, stand on the edge of the rules to gain an advantage. Do they/ have they strayed over that ledge from time to time? Only history will be that judge.

Personally I think Froome’s legacy will always be around how strong Sky is rather than the man himself. If we acknowledge US Postal, yes they were a strong team, but Armstrong was a powerful (yes with additives) rider that would impose himself on the stage. From what I have read about Merckx and Indurain they were similar, they would take the race by the scruff of the neck and beat the others into the ground.

Froome said it himself, without the team, he would not be as dominant. They had technically 4 potential leaders in their squad. I like Froome and respect what he has achieved, but there are some things about him that make me hold back any comparisons with past greats.

I don’t like how he focuses solely on TdF and not much else. Out of all the GT contenders over the past few years, he has always been the rider who has raced the least amount of days. It is easier to be strong for the TdF if you ride hardly anything else throughout the year, even after the tour he competes in very few races on the calendar.

With such a strong team who could challenge him? I still have my doubts about Qunitana, he has not rode aggressively against Froome in his past TdF outings and did not use the tactical advantage when he consistently has riders in the break and super domestique in Valverde. Contador does not have the strength he used to, Porte, Aru and Yates are growing but very early in their development.
I would love to see Froome try the Giro, the past few editions have been very tough and ridden quite aggressively.

It is becoming a procession again. Team Sky have brought such a strong team this year they have chased down any and all attacks with ease without burning all their matches. To beat Froome this year, multiple teams need to attack. Movistar are the strongest opposition and their tactics seem rather strange. They put riders in the break, yet don’t use that advantage. Their patience could be either a masterstroke or an embarrassment.

The only feasible chance now isn’t for one solitary team/rider ambushing Froome but a consistent attack by multple GC riders or to produce one hell of a time trial.

I don’t think Quintana will succeed this year. His other GT victory came on the back of an attack when most of the top guys thought the Stelvio was neutralised in the Giro. He needs to use his trump cards more effectively, they have some strong riders and a super domestique in Valverde.

Pretty crazy stuff! It is a tough one and has been building steadily throughout the year. The crowds were pretty bad in the Giro mountain stages as well, but that paled in comparison to yesterday. Yesterday seemed to be the perfect storm. The crowds that had been camping out at the summit of Ventoux moved down and gathered at the new finish line, the lack of barriers which ASO promptly blamed the UCI for, the last minute decision to reduced the stage and the winds.

I noticed Porte yelling at the muppets, in particular some french nutter in a french tricolour skin suit about 3 minutes before all hell broke loose. As the madness was nearing its climax I was thinking to myself that it was way too crowded, to the point where a rider would not be able to attack if he wanted to because there was simply no room left on the road

I think Astana and Movistar would consider themselves winners. According to OBE backstage, Matt White was saying that Yates was making ground before the accident, so he can consider himself a little unlucky possibly. And Froome is down a nice pinarello and GPS unit, some idiot stole it after he discarded it apparently.

I did have a good chuckle seeing Froome both running up a mountian in cleats, followed then the comedic spectacle of seeing him trying to ride a bike 3 sizes too small with the wrong clips haha. I can laugh because it wasn’t me lol

It was a great stage last night, but so have try all been so far. So far this TdF has been a classic tour to watch. Interestingly, Matt White announced that Matthews won’t be riding for OBE next year. Whoever gets him, supposedly team Giant, will be getting a great rider.

Gerrans has been very quiet this year, will he be moving on, changing roles or retiring?

Team Sky look too powerful with Movistar possibly the only team strong enough to beat them. Quintana has to ride aggressively, and if not for time losses from the second stage, could have won last year. Not sure if Valverde is racing the TdF this year, he would be a huge help to Nairo if he is.

BMC’s leadup seems strange. They are planning a twin pronged attack for the first time in the teams history, yet instead of using the Dauphine as a testing ground for tactics and building some racing time with Tejay and Richie in tandem, they split them up.

I think Aru will be lucky to be top 5 this yea, with Yates finishing higher than Fabio. Contador will struggle to podium as well. Just doesn’t seem to have the climbing panache he had in years past.

It was an interesting race. Unfortunately I had to settle with just watching the replays/highlights. Sky looked dominant as a team. Porte did pretty well. As usual though it looks like it could be another Sky dominant TdF. Tinkoff as a team just are not good enough in my opinion. Contador can be as aggressive as he wants, but he just gets isolated too easy. Sky will have a team with at least 3-4 GC contenders in their own right.

I reckon the only team with the strength and talent to be a worry is Movistar. Very strong team combined with Quintana will be a threat. Possibly Astana, but not entirely convinced of Aru just yet. Maybe in a few years time for him.

“Generation Next” is doing the sport proud! Hopefully the future is looking much brighter than its dark past

See you Scott, thanks for your effort tonight

Coming second against the might of Movistar and Astana is an amazing result. OGE can take a lot of heart that on a much smaller budget it has secured second in its first time going for a GC

Wow, brave rides by the top 3!

Now he has to defend third

cmon chaves!!

If Chaves survives this stage in pink, it will be one of the best rides I have seen in a while. It’s going to come from everyone thick and fast

Well he did only sign a 1 year contract, and I don’t see him a a GC contender anymore,and I would say he now agrees

Gee the suspense haha.